Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James Buchanan Duke established The Duke Endowment and the institution changed its name to honor his deceased father, Washington Duke. As of 2021, Duke is the fourth-largest private employer in North Carolina, with more than 43,000 employees. The university has been ranked as an excellent employer by several publications.